Apparatus, method and system to select content from history information representing previously reproduced content

ABSTRACT

According to an illustrative embodiment, an information processing apparatus is provided. The information processing apparatus includes a storage for storing content identification and content type information in association with each other, the content identification identifying a content that a renderer acquired from a server and reproduced; an input unit for receiving a reproduction request specifying the content type information; and a transmission unit for retrieving the content identification associated with the specified content type information from the storage and transmitting to the renderer an instruction for reproduction, the instruction for reproduction including the content identification.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. JP 2010-291988 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Dec. 28, 2010,the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, areproduction control method, a program, and a content reproductionsystem for controlling a reproduction apparatus to acquire a content viaa network and reproduce the content.

In recent years, DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance (registeredtrademark)) is known as a standard for constructing residential homenetworks. By the DLNA standard, digital contents such as a music contentand a moving image content are controlled in a home network.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-330827 (hereinafter,referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a contents reproducingdevice that acquires contents from a plurality of servers on a homenetwork and reproduces them. The contents reproducing device stores apreviously-connected server based on a past connection history. Then,upon receiving a response to an SD request (Service Discovery Request)for a server search from the server, the contents reproducing devicepreferentially connects to that server. As a result, a server searchtime is shortened, and user operability is improved (see, for example,paragraphs [0013] to [0016] and FIG. 3 of Patent Document 1).

In addition, Japanese Patent No. 4281798 (hereinafter, referred to asPatent Document 2) discloses a controller, a server, and a renderer thatare connected to a home network that uses the DLNA standard. By a useroperating the controller, an operation of the renderer that reproducescontents is controlled (see, for example, paragraphs [0076] and [0124],and FIG. 2 of Patent Document 2).

SUMMARY

Here, a case where a user views a content that has been viewed in thepast again will be discussed. The user instructs the renderer toreproduce a content using the controller. Using the technique disclosedin Patent Document 1, a previously-connected server is preferentiallyconnected to the renderer. As a result, while a server search time isshortened, the user may need to re-select a content to be viewed fromthe plurality of contents stored in the server.

Moreover, there is a case where a plurality of types of contentsincluding a music content and a moving image content are reproduced by asingle renderer. In this case, a server search may become necessaryagain when the user wishes to view a content that is of a different typefrom a content provided by the previously-connected server.

In view of the circumstances as described above, there is a need for aninformation processing apparatus, a reproduction control method, aprogram, and a content reproduction system for enabling a reproductionapparatus that acquires contents via a network and reproduces them to becontrolled so that contents that a user have viewed in the past can beviewed again with favorable operability.

In view of the above, the present embodiments are provided. According toan illustrative embodiment, an information processing apparatus isprovided. The information processing apparatus includes a storage forstoring content identification and content type information inassociation with each other, the content identification identifying acontent that a renderer acquired from a server and reproduced; an inputunit for receiving a reproduction request specifying the content typeinformation; and a transmission unit for retrieving the contentidentification associated with the specified content type informationfrom the storage and transmitting to the renderer an instruction forreproduction, the instruction for reproduction including the contentidentification.

As described above, according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, control of a reproduction apparatus that acquires contentsvia a network and reproduces them to enable a content that a user hasviewed in the past to be viewed again with favorable operability can berealized.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of best mode embodiments thereof, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a content reproduction systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an outer appearance of acontroller shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing structural examples of arenderer, a server, and the controller shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a table showing history information according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the controller shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen of the controllershown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the display screen of thecontroller shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of control between thecontroller and the renderer connected to a home network according to asecond embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining information that can be acquired bythe controller by the control sequence shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing carried out bythe controller according to the second embodiment for acquiringinformation necessary for updating history information;

FIG. 11 are diagrams showing examples of tables for acquiring contentcategory information from content meta-information shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a computerthat executes a series of processing executed in the first and secondembodiments by a program; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modified example of a content type listdisplayed on the display screen shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a content reproduction systemaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. A contentreproduction system 100 is a system in which contents are transmittedand received among a plurality of apparatuses mutually connected via ahome network 10. In this embodiment, renderers 20 (20 a, 20 b) asreproduction apparatuses, servers 30 (30 a to 30 c) as content providingservers, and a controller 40 that instructs the renderers 20 toreproduce contents are connected to the home network 10. The controller40 corresponds to an information processing apparatus according to theembodiment of the present disclosure.

The home network 10 is a network conforming to the DLNA standard.Therefore, in this embodiment, the renderers 20 each function as a DMR(Digital Media Renderer) of DLNA. Moreover, the servers 30 each functionas a DMS (Digital Media Server). The controller 40 functions as a DMC(Digital Media Controller). However, networks using other protocols maybe used instead.

The renderers 20 are capable of acquiring contents from the servers 30via the home network 10 based on a reproduction request from thecontroller 40 and reproducing them.

The renderers 20 may be capable of operating as a DMP (Digital MediaPlayer) of DLNA. In this case, the renderers 20 acquire contents fromthe servers 30 based on a reproduction request from a user transmittedvia a UI (User Interface) of the renderers themselves, for example, andreproduce them.

Examples of the renderers 20 include a television apparatus, a PC(Personal Computer), an audio video receiver, a video monitor, and ahome game apparatus.

The servers 30 transmit list information of a plurality of contents thatcan be provided by themselves to the controller 40. Moreover, theservers 30 stream designated contents to the renderers 20. It should benoted that the designated contents may be downloaded.

In the servers 30, data of a plurality of contents categorized into aplurality of types based on a predetermined criterion are stored. Inthis embodiment, the contents are categorized into a plurality of typesbased on content attribute information. For example, contents arecategorized into types of “HDD (Hard Disk Drive) video”, “HDD photo”,“HDD music”, “Internet radio”, and “external input”.

However, how the content types are determined and how the contents arecategorized can be set as appropriate. For example, the contents may becategorized based on an activity name, category name, or function nameof the contents. Alternatively, the contents may be categorized based ona data format of the contents or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, contents of “HDD video”, “HDDphoto”, “HDD music”, “Internet radio”, and “external input” aredelivered by the server 30 a. Contents of “HDD music” are delivered bythe server 30 b. Contents of “HDD video”, “HDD photo”, and “HDD music”are delivered by the server 30 c.

As each of the servers 30, a PC or an HDD (NAS) compatible with anetwork is used, for example.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an outer appearance of thecontroller 40 according to this embodiment. The controller 40 is of asize that a user is capable of carrying. On the controller 40, a displayscreen 41 that functions as a touch panel, arrow keys 42, operationbuttons 43, and the like are provided.

On the display screen 41, a content list transmitted from the servers30, GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) for inputting a reproductionrequest to the renderers 20, and the like are displayed. By operatingthe displayed GUI, arrow keys 42, and the like, the user can select acontent, instruct the renderer 20 to reproduce the selected content, andthe like. The display screen 41, the arrow keys 42, and the likecorrespond to an input unit according to this embodiment.

Further, as described below, in this embodiment, a reproduction requestincluding at least content type information is input to the input unit.In other words, a type of a content to be reproduced is designated bythe user.

As the controller 40, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a gameapparatus, or the like is used.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing structural examples of therenderers 20, the servers 30, and the controller 40 shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 40 includes a reproduction apparatusselection unit 44, a content type selection unit 45, a server listacquisition unit 46, a server list display/selection unit 47, a contentlist acquisition unit 48, a content list display/selection unit 49, arenderer controller 50, a reproduction content history management unit51, a reproduction content judgment unit 52, and a network I/F(Interface) unit 53.

The renderer 20 includes a control command reception unit 21, a commandprocessor 22, a content reception processor 23, a content decode unit24, a content display/reproduction unit 25, and a network I/F unit 26.

The server 30 includes a content delivery processor 31, a contentmanagement unit 32, and a network I/F unit 33.

The reproduction apparatus selection unit 44 of the controller 40displays a GUI used for selecting the renderer 20 to reproduce a contenton the display screen 41. Then, information on the renderer 20 selectedby the user is output to the content type selection unit 45 asreproduction renderer information.

The content type selection unit 45 displays, on the display screen 41, alist of content types (e.g., “HDD video” and “HDD photo”) that can bereproduced by the reproduction renderer 20. Then, information on thecontent type selected by the user is output to the server listdisplay/selection unit 47 and the reproduction content judgment unit 52.It should be noted that in this embodiment, the renderer 20 is anapparatus that is capable of reproducing all types of contents from “HDDvideo” to “external output” described above.

The server list display/selection unit 47 narrows down the servers 30 tothose that are capable of delivering contents of the content typeselected by the content type selection unit 45 and displays them on thedisplay screen 41 as a server list. For example, profile information ofthe servers 30 that are present on the home network 10 is acquired bythe server list acquisition unit 46. The server list is created based onthe profile information. The profile information is information on acorresponding protocol, and the like. Further, content lists of theservers 30 may be acquired so that the server list is created based onthe content lists.

The content list acquisition unit 48 acquires a list of contents thatthe server 30 selected by the user provides. The content listacquisition unit 48 transmits, via the network I/F unit 53, a contentacquisition request to the content delivery processor 31 of the server30. The content delivery processor 31 that has received the requestreceives the content list from the content management unit 32 andtransmits it to the content list acquisition unit 48 of the controller40. The acquired content list is output to the content listdisplay/selection unit 49.

The content list display/selection unit 49 narrows down contentsmatching the content type selected by the content type selection unit 45based on a tree structure of the content list or contentmeta-information and displays the contents on the display screen 41 as alist. Then, identification information of the content selected by theuser and information on the reproduction renderer 20 and server 30 thatprovides the content are output to the renderer controller 50 and thereproduction content history management unit 51.

The content identification information is information for identifyingone or more contents to be reproduced by the renderer 20. In thisembodiment, a content ID or a content URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)is used as the content identification information, though not limitedthereto. As the information on the renderer 20 and the server 30,information such as an IP address or UDN (Uniform Device Name) of eachapparatus is used.

The renderer controller 50 transmits a reproduction control command tothe control command reception unit 21 of the renderer 20 via the networkI/F unit 53. The reproduction control command is an instruction toacquire a content from the server 30 that provides the content andreproduce it and includes content identification information and serverinformation.

The reproduction content history management unit 51 creates historyinformation of a content that has been selected by the user andreproduced by the renderer 20 and stores it. The history information isinformation in which content identification information and typeinformation indicating a type of the content (e.g., “HDD video”) areassociated with each other. The reproduction content history managementunit 51 corresponds to a storage according to this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a table showing history information according to thisembodiment. In this embodiment, history information in which contentidentification information and information on the server 30 that storesthe content are associated with each other in addition to content typeinformation is created.

Although FIG. 4 shows the table of history information on the renderer20 a, history information on the renderer 20 b is also created andstored. In other words, history information is created and stored foreach of the plurality of renderers 20 connected to the home network 10.

Moreover, in this embodiment, information in which identificationinformation of a lastly-reproduced content and content type informationare associated with each other is stored as the history information foreach content type.

The reproduction content judgment unit 52 shown in FIG. 3 judges whethera content of the selected content type has been reproduced in the pastby the selected renderer 20. Based on content type information includedin a reproduction request received from the user, the reproductioncontent judgment unit 52 searches for history information of thereproduction content history management unit 51. Accordingly, whether acontent of the selected content type has been reproduced in the past isjudged.

When there is a content reproduction history, a content that has beenreproduced in the past is judged as a content to be reproduced. Then,content identification information and server information included inthe history information are output to the renderer controller 50, and areproduction control command is transmitted to the renderer 20. Whenthere is no content reproduction history, processing of selecting theserver 30 and a content is executed, and history information is createdby the reproduction content history management unit 51. The reproductioncontent judgment unit 52 and the renderer controller 50 correspond to aninstruction transmission unit according to this embodiment.

The control command reception unit 21 of the renderer 20 receives thereproduction control command transmitted from the controller 40. Thecommand processor 22 receives the reproduction control command from thecontrol command reception unit 21 and instructs the content receptionprocessor 23 to start the streaming reproduction.

The content reception processor 23 transmits a content delivery requestto the content delivery processor 31 of the server 30 via the networkI/F unit 26. The content delivery processor 31 that has received therequest receives the content from the content management unit 32 andtransmits it to the content reception processor 23 of the renderer 20.

The content decode unit 24 decodes the stream received from the contentreception processor 23 and outputs it to the contentdisplay/reproduction unit 25. Then, the content is reproduced by thecontent display/reproduction unit 25.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the controller 40 as theinformation processing apparatus according to this embodiment. FIGS. 6and 7 are schematic diagrams showing the display screen 41 of thecontroller 40.

First, a case where a content is selected by the user and the content isreproduced by the renderer will be described. This is an operationcarried out in a case where a content has not been reproduced in thepast regarding the content type selected by the user, and there is noreproduction history.

As shown in FIG. 6, a reproduction apparatus list 61 is displayed on thedisplay screen 41 (Step 101), and a reproduction renderer 20 a isselected by the user (Step 102). A content type list 62 of contents thatcan be reproduced by the renderer 20 a is displayed on the displayscreen 41 (Step 103). Then, “HDD video” is selected as the content type(Step 104).

The servers 30 are narrowed down to those that are capable of deliveringcontents belonging to “HDD video” (Step 105), and a server list 63indicating the servers 30 a and 30 c are displayed (Step 106). Then, theserver 30 a is selected by the user (Step 107).

A content list 64 that shows only contents belonging to “HDD video” thathave been narrowed down from the plurality of contents that can bedelivered by the server 30 a is displayed on the display screen 41 (Step108). When a content V₃ is selected by the user (Step 109), areproduction control command is transmitted to the renderer 20 a (Step110). As a result, the content V₃ is reproduced by the renderer 20 a.

On the display screen 41 of the controller 40, a reproduction operationscreen 65 used for inputting instructions of pause, fast-forward, andthe like is displayed. Further, the table of history information shownin FIG. 4 is created and stored by the reproduction content historymanagement unit 51 shown in FIG. 3. As a result, a reproduction historyof the contents belonging to “HDD video” in the renderer 20 a is updated(Step 111).

Next, a case where there is a content reproduction history will bedescribed. Here, an example of a case where a reproduction request ofthe content V₃ is input again by the user will be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, the reproduction apparatus list 61 is displayed onthe display screen 41, and the renderer 20 a is selected (Steps 121 and122). Then, the content type list 62 is displayed on the display screen41, and “HDD video” is selected (Steps 123 and 124).

The reproduction content judgment unit 52 shown in FIG. 3 judges whetherthere is a reproduction history of contents belonging to “HDD video” inthe renderer 20 a (Step 125). The table shown in FIG. 4 is stored in thereproduction content history management unit 51, and the content V₃ andthe server 30 a are specified based on the table (Step 126).

In Step 110, a reproduction control command that instructs to acquirethe content V₃ from the server 30 a and reproduce it is transmitted tothe renderer 20 a. In the update processing of Step 111, identificationinformation of the content V₃ and information on the server 30 a may benewly created as the history information. Alternatively, the processingof updating a reproduction history does not need to be carried out whenreproduction control based on history information is carried out.

In the controller 40 as the information processing apparatus of thisembodiment, history information in which identification information ofthe content V₃ that has been reproduced by the renderer 20 a and typeinformation of the content V₃ (“HDD video”) are associated with eachother is stored. When a reproduction request including at least thecontent type information is input, history information is searched forbased on the content type information, and the content V₃ to bereproduced is judged. Then, a reproduction instruction including theidentification information of the content V₃ to be reproduced istransmitted to the renderer 20 a via the home network 10.

Therefore, for the content V₃ whose past reproduction history is stored,reproduction can be started by merely selecting the content type. Inother words, the sever selection and content selection by the user canbe omitted. As a result, control to view a content that the user hasviewed in the past again with favorable operability can be realized.

In this embodiment, history information is created and stored for eachof the renderers 20 a and 20 b connected to the home network 10. As aresult, control of the renderers 20 a and 20 b connected to the homenetwork 10 to view a content that the user has viewed in the past againwith favorable operability can be realized.

In this embodiment, the reproduction content history management unit 51stores, as history information, information in which identificationinformation of a lastly-reproduced content and content type informationare associated with each other for each content type. Therefore, itbecomes possible for the user to again view a content that has beenviewed last with favorable operability for each content type. In otherwords, even when the content that has been viewed last belongs to “HDDmusic”, a content belonging to “HDD video”, that has been viewed lastbefore that content can be viewed again with ease.

Moreover, in this embodiment, information on the server 30 is alsostored in the reproduction content history management unit 51 asinformation associated with content identification information. Then, areproduction control command including the content identificationinformation and information on the server 30 is transmitted to therenderer 20. As a result, a time required for carrying out contentreproduction processing by the renderer 20 is shortened. Consequently,user operability is improved.

Moreover, the reproduction processing can be started at a time point therenderer 20 or the server 30 a included in the history information isfound on the home network 10. Therefore, there is no need to wait for aresponse from other renderers 20 and servers 30, with the result that atime required for starting reproduction can be shortened.

Second Embodiment

A controller as an information processing apparatus according to asecond embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Indescriptions below, descriptions on parts having the same structures andoperations as those of the content reproduction system 100 andcontroller 40 described in the above embodiment will be omitted orsimplified.

The controller 240 of this embodiment is capable of acquiringidentification information of a content that is being reproduced by therenderer 20 and type information of the content. Based on the acquiredcontent identification information and content type information, historyinformation stored in the reproduction content management unit can beupdated. For example, an update unit as a block that carries out theprocessing described above is provided in addition to the blocks shownin FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of control between thecontroller 240 of this embodiment and the renderer 20 connected to thehome network. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining information that can beacquired by the controller 240 by the control sequence shown in FIG. 8.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, “GetMediaInfo” or “GetPositionInfo” istransmitted from the controller 240 to the renderer 20 as a UPnP(Universal Plug and Play) control message.

As a response to the message, “AVTransportURIMetaData” or“CurrentMetaData” is transmitted from the renderer 20 to the controller240. As shown in FIG. 9, the information returned from the renderer 20includes meta-information on contents such as a content name, a contentURI, and DLNA.ORG_PN. Based on the content meta-information, informationnecessary for updating history information that includes contentidentification information and content type information is acquired.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing carried out bythe controller 240 for acquiring information necessary for updatinghistory information based on the content meta-information shown in FIG.9.

“GetPositionInfo” is transmitted to the renderer 20 (Step 201), andwhether a response from the renderer 20 is made within a predeterminedtime is judged (Step 202). Upon reaching timeout with no response fromthe renderer 20, an acquisition of content meta-information is judged tohave failed, and processing is ended (Step 203).

When a response is made by the renderer 20, content meta-informationincluded in “CurrentMetaData” from the renderer 20 is checked (Step204). dc:title as the content meta-information is acquired asinformation on a name of a content that is being reproduced (Step 205).Moreover, a content URI is acquired as URI of the content that is beingreproduced (Step 206). In this embodiment, information on a content nameand a content URI are acquired as content identification information.

Whether a UDN of a server that has provided the content that is beingreproduced is included in the content meta-information is judged (Step207). When a server UDN is included in the content meta-information, theUDN is acquired as information for identifying a server (Step 208). Theserver UDN may be added by the server as unique meta-information. Theserver UDN may be acquired by reproduction of PlayContainer.

When a server UDN is not included in the content meta-information,address information is acquired from the content URI acquired in Step206. Then, the address information is acquired as server identificationinformation (Step 209). It should be noted that by using the contentURI, a content can be acquired from the server to be reproduced.Therefore, the server identification information does not need to beacquired. However, by acquiring the server identification information,processing of displaying server information on a display screen of thecontroller 240 or displaying content lists of servers becomes possibleas appropriate.

By referring to the tables to be described later, content categoryinformation is acquired from the content meta-information (Step 210). Inthis embodiment, content category information is acquired as the contenttype information.

FIG. 11 are diagrams showing examples of tables for acquiring contentcategory information from content meta-information. FIG. 11A is a tablefor judging a category based on DLNA.ORG_PN as content meta-information.A table of a profile defined by DLNA as DLNA.ORG_PN and a categorycorresponding thereto may be used instead.

The value of DLNA.ORG_PN becomes a value like “MPEG_PS_NTSC”, forexample, but focusing on the first half portion as shown in FIG. 11(MPEG in this example), the profile may be judged based on a match onthe front side. Accordingly, the table may be simplified.

When ARIB.OR.JP_PN, profile information that uniquely defines anapparatus vendor, or the like is defined in addition to DLNA.ORG_PN, acategory corresponding to the profile may be judged using the sametables as those shown in FIG. 11. It should be noted that the ideadescribed herein is also applicable to a category judgment of contentsbased on mime-type as the content meta-information shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11B is a table for judging a category of contents based onmeta-information uniquely added by the server. Meta-information that thecontroller 240 can acquire from the renderer 20 is based on informationthat the renderer 20 has acquired from the server that delivers thecontents. Therefore, it is also possible for unique contentmeta-information to be added at a time point a content is provided bythe server, for example, and a content category to be judged based onthe content meta-information acquired from the renderer 20.

As shown in FIG. 11B, the content category can be judged morespecifically since it is based on the content meta-information uniquelyadded by the server. Accordingly, the user can view a content that hasbeen viewed in the past again with favorable operability for each of thespecifically-categorized content types (category in this example).

In Step 211 of FIG. 10, the information on the renderer 20 that hasreturned “CurrentMetaData” to the controller 240, the categoryinformation, the information on a content name, the content URI, and theserver identification information are linked. Based on those pieces ofinformation, history information stored in the reproduction contenthistory management unit is updated.

For example, there are a case where a content is reproduced based on areproduction instruction from another controller connected to the homenetwork and a case where a content is reproduced with the rendererfunctioning as a DMP. In such cases, by appropriately updating historyinformation, the user can reliably view the content again.

The series of processing executed by the controllers 40 and 240according to the first and second embodiments above may be executedeither by hardware or software. When causing software to execute theseries of processing, a computer in which a program constituting thesoftware is incorporated into dedicated hardware is used, for example.Alternatively, a program is installed from a program recording medium toa computer that is capable of executing the series of processing byinstalling various programs.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a computerthat executes the series of processing described above. The series ofprocessing described above may be executed by a computer that has thefollowing hardware structure instead of the controller 40 shown in FIG.2.

A computer 300 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (ReadOnly Memory) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, an input/outputinterface 305, and a bus 304 for mutually connecting those components.

Connected to the input/output interface 305 are a display unit 306, aninput unit 307, a storage 308, a communication unit 309, a drive unit310, and the like. The display unit 306 is a display device that uses,for example, liquid crystal, EL (Electro-Luminescence), and CRT (CathodeRay Tube). The input unit 307 is, for example, a pointing device, akeyboard, a touch panel, or other operation apparatuses. When the inputunit 307 includes a touch panel, the touch panel may be integrated withthe display unit 306.

The storage 308 is a nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD (HardDisk Drive), a flash memory, and other solid state memories. The driveunit 310 is a device capable of driving a removable recording medium 311such as an optical recording medium, a floppy (registered trademark)disk, a magnetic recording tape, and a flash memory. In contrast, thestorage 308 is often used as a device that is mounted on the computer300 in advance, for mainly driving an unremovable recording medium.

The communication unit 309 is a modem, a router, or other communicationapparatuses connectable with the LAN (Local Area Network), the WAN (WideArea Network), and the like for communicating with other devices. Thecommunication unit 309 may communicate with other devices either bywires or wirelessly. The communication unit 309 is often used separatefrom the computer.

Data processing by the computer 300 is realized by software stored inthe storage 308, the ROM 302, or the like in cooperation with hardwareresources of the computer. Specifically, by the CPU 301 loading andexecuting the program that is stored in the storage 308, the ROM 302, orthe like and constitutes software in the RAM 303, various types of dataprocessing are realized.

Modified Example

The embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to theembodiments above and may be variously modified.

For example, in the above embodiments, a reproduction control command ofthe content V₃ is transmitted to the renderer 20 a when it is judged inStep 125 of FIG. 5 that there is a reproduction history of the contentV₃. However, whether to reproduce the content V₃ may be judged by theuser before the reproduction control command is transmitted.

For example, a popup window of, for example, “There is a content of theselected content type that has been reproduced in the past. Do you wishto reproduce the content?” may be displayed on the display screen 41 ofthe controller 40. As a result, reproduction control of favorableoperability is realized when a content different from the content V₃that the user has viewed in the past is to be viewed.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modified example of the content type list62 displayed on the display screen 41 shown in FIG. 7. As shown in thefigure, the content type list 62 may display a name of a content thathas been reproduced in the past for each content type. Accordingly, theuser can grasp a content to be reproduced by selecting the content typeby visually checking the content type list. As a result, useroperability is improved.

Furthermore, identification information of a lastly-reproduced contenthas been stored as the history information for each content type.However, history information of a plurality of contents may be storedfor each content type. For example, identification information of notonly the lastly-reproduced content but also a content that has beenreproduced before that and also a content before that may be stored foreach content type.

In this case, after the content type is selected, a list of theplurality of contents belonging to the content type, that have beenreproduced in the past, is displayed on the display screen. The userselects a content that he/she wishes to view again from the displayedlist of contents. Accordingly, an operation of selecting and reproducinga content that the user wishes to view most from the contents that havebeen reproduced in the past becomes possible, for example.

Moreover, in Steps 101 to 109 of FIG. 5, the content has been selectedby selecting the renderer, the content type, and the server in thestated order. However, the order is not limited to this order. Forexample, a content may be selected by selecting the content type, theserver, and the renderer in the stated order.

Further, the renderer selection processing of Step 121 of FIG. 5 may beomitted. For example, the renderer that has lastly received areproduction control command from the controller may be used as adefault renderer. As a result, the renderer selection processing can beomitted.

Furthermore, when a server to provide a content is not found when acontent reproduction instruction is transmitted to the renderer based onhistory information, another server capable of delivering a contentbelonging to the content type selected by the user may be displayed onthe display screen of the controller. As a result, a content of the samecontent type can be viewed swiftly when a server that is to be connectedfirst is not activated, for example.

The controllers of the above embodiments may operate as an IR remotecontroller equipped with a macro function. Accordingly, it becomespossible for the user to also control an apparatus that is not connectedto the home network by operating the controller.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus connectableto a reproducing system having a number of servers and a number ofrenderers, said apparatus comprising: a storage to create historyinformation for at least one renderer and to store the created historyinformation, in which the history information for a respective rendereris based on content that has been previously reproduced by therespective renderer and includes information of (i) content type, (ii)content identification of the content, and (iii) server identificationwhich identifies a server having stored therein the respective content,arranged in association with each other; an input unit to enable a userto input a reproduction request for a desired renderer which specifiesat least a desired content type; and a transmission unit to retrieve thecontent identification for desired content associated with the desiredcontent type for the desired renderer from the storage and transmit tothe desired renderer a reproduction instruction which includes theretrieved content identification and the server identification whereinthe desired content is stored.
 2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1,in which for the history information of at least one said renderer, thestorage is configured to store the history information for only a mostrecently reproduced content for each said content type.
 3. The apparatusas recited in claim 1, in which for the history information of at leastone said renderer, the storage is configured to store the historyinformation for a plurality of contents for each content type.
 4. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, in which the content identification isdetermined by the apparatus based on information received from therespective renderer.
 5. The apparatus as recited in claim 4, in whichthe information received from the respective renderer is in response toa message transmitted from the apparatus to the respective renderer. 6.The apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which the content identificationis determined by the apparatus based on information received from therespective server.
 7. An information processing method for use in aninformation processing apparatus connectable to a reproducing systemhaving a number of servers and a number of renderers, comprising:creating history information for at least one renderer and storing thecreated history information in a storage, in which the historyinformation for a respective renderer is based on content that has beenpreviously reproduced by the respective renderer and includesinformation of (i) content type, (ii) content identification of thecontent, and (iii) server identification which identifies a serverhaving stored therein the respective content, arranged in associationwith each other; inputting a reproduction request for a desired rendererwhich specifies at least a desired content type; and retrieving thecontent identification for desired content associated with the desiredcontent type for the desired renderer from the storage and transmittingto the desired renderer a reproduction instruction which includes theretrieved content identification and the server identification whereinthe desired content is stored.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7, inwhich for the history information of at least one said renderer, thehistory information for only a most recently reproduced content for eachsaid content type is stored in the storage.
 9. The method as recited inclaim 7, in which for the history information of at least one saidrenderer, the history information for a plurality of contents for eachcontent type is stored in the storage.
 10. The method as recited inclaim 7, in which the content identification is determined based oninformation received from the respective renderer.
 11. The method asrecited in claim 10, in which the information received from therespective renderer is in response to a message transmitted from theapparatus to the respective renderer.
 12. The method as recited in claim7, in which the content identification is determined by the apparatusbased on information received from the respective server.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing acomputer-readable program for executing an information processing methodfor use in an information processing apparatus connectable to areproducing system having a number of servers and a number of renderers,the method comprising: creating history information for at least onerenderer and storing the created history information in a storage, inwhich the history information for a respective renderer is based oncontent that has been previously reproduced by the respective rendererand includes information of (i) content type, (ii) contentidentification of the content, and (iii) server identification whichidentifies a server having stored therein the respective content,arranged in association with each other; inputting a reproductionrequest for a desired renderer which specifies at least a desiredcontent type; and retrieving the content identification for desiredcontent associated with the desired content type for the desiredrenderer from the storage and transmitting to the desired renderer areproduction instruction which includes the retrieved contentidentification and the server identification wherein the desired contentis stored.